The magic 45 minutes describes the duration of one of the most rewarding sporting periods in the history of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

during which four New Zealand rowing teams won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s in four successive finals to be the most successful country at the

2005 World Rowing Championships The 2005 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 29 August to 4 September 2005 at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The international rowing season usually ends ...

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

, Japan.

2005 World Rowing Championships

The success of the New Zealanders was the first time any country had won four golds at any world championships since the former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

in 1987, an achievement which prompted New Zealand's largest newspaper, ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'', to scream "FOARSOME" in a banner headline. New Zealand has a population creeping just over 4,000,000—roughly a fifth of the population of Metropolitan New York—but is internationally recognised as regularly punching well above its weight in international sporting competition. New Zealand has previously won four

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

golds in a single sport (

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

) at a single games but that was over two days on

Lake Casitas Lake Casitas is a reservoir in Ventura County, California, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and completed in 1959. The project provides drinking water and water for irrigation. A secondary benefit is flood control. It was the ven ...

at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. The previous shortest time between winning gold medals was less than an hour when the great

Peter Snell Sir Peter George Snell (17 December 1938 – 12 December 2019) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner. He won three Olympic gold medals, and is the only man since 1920 to have won the 800 and 1500 metres at the same Olympics, in 1964. Snel ...

(

800 m The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

) and

Murray Halberg Sir Murray Gordon Halberg (7 July 1933 – 30 November 2022) was a New Zealand middle-distance runner who won the gold medal in the 5000 metres event at the 1960 Olympics. He also won gold medals in the 3 miles events at the 1958 and 1962 Com ...

(

5000 m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

) triumphed at the

Rome Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

in 1960. On this magic 45 minutes occasion, New Zealand had five teams in the rowing finals, an achievement that astonished the international rowing fraternity at Gifu. New Zealanders at home in New Zealand were hoping that maybe two gold medals would be achievable. But in only 45 minutes, the New Zealanders won four golds and the New Zealand flag proudly flew four times as the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

was played four times in succession. The four victories were: *

Mahé Drysdale Alexander Mahé Owens Drysdale (born 19 November 1978) is a New Zealand politician and retired rower. Drysdale is a two-time Olympic champion and a five-time world champion in the single sculls. He is a seven-time New Zealand national champion ...

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, in the men's single sculls, won gold from the current Olympic champion,

Olaf Tufte Olaf Karl Tufte (born 27 April 1976 in Tønsberg) is a Norwegian rower, firefighter, and farmer. He is a seven-time Olympian, and as a single sculler he was twice the Olympic champion and twice the world champion. He has been consistently selec ...

, of Norway. New Zealand was searching for a single sculler to succeed

Rob Waddell Robert Norman Waddell (born 7 January 1975) is a New Zealand Olympic Gold Medalist and double World Champion Single sculler rower, and America's Cup yachtsman. He is a triple New Zealand Supreme 'Halberg Awards' Sportsperson of the year winner ...

who had won the world championships in 1998 and 1999 and a gold medal the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, and unexpectedly, here he was. *

Juliette Haigh Juliette Anne Haigh (born 4 August 1982), also known by her married name Juliette Drysdale but better known by her maiden name, is a retired professional Rowing (sport), rower. Haigh was born in 1982 in Auckland, New Zealand. Her parents are Pe ...

and Nicky Coles, in the women's coxless pair, won from Australians Natalie Bale and Sarah Outhwaite. It was vindication for Haigh and Coles who embarrassingly fell into the water at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and therefore could not display their talents. *

George Bridgewater George Spencer Bridgewater (born 18 January 1983) is a former New Zealand rower who competed in the pair at international level with Nathan Twaddle. The pair began representing New Zealand together in 2004 and won bronze medals at the 2008 Summ ...

and

Nathan Twaddle Robert Nathan Twaddle (born 21 August 1976) is a New Zealand former rower and Olympic medallist. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, in the coxless pair rowing with his partner George Bridgewater and won a bronze medal. The p ...

, in the men's coxless pair, defeated South Africa with Italy third. * Identical twin sisters Caroline and

Georgina Evers-Swindell Georgina Emma Buchanan Earl (born 10 October 1978 in Hastings, New Zealand), better known under her maiden name Georgina Evers-Swindell, is a New Zealand former rower. She competed in the double sculls with her identical twin sister Caroline E ...

won the women's double sculls, defeating Bulgaria, with Australia third. As they had previously won world titles, and the gold medal at Athens, they were confidently expected to perform well and did not let their legion of New Zealand fans down. The men's coxless four of Donald Leach,

Carl Meyer Carl Meyer may refer to: * Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet (1851–1922), banker * Carl Meyer (rower) Carl James Meyer (born 3 September 1981) is a New Zealand rower. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics Th ...

, Eric Murray and

Steven Cottle Steven Cottle (born 24 August 1984) is a New Zealand rower. In 2006 Cottle was selected as the number two oarsman in the New Zealand coxed four, alongside James Dallinger, Paul Gerritsen, Dane Boswell and cox Daniel Quigley. They won gold at ...

finished sixth in their final.

FISA awards

In November 2005, New Zealand head coach,

Dick Tonks Richard William Tonks (born 21 February 1951) is a former national New Zealand rowing coach and a former rower who won a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Through his coaching career he has coached crews to a total of 25 World ...

was named the 2005 Coach of the Year by FISA, the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (officially FISA; ), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who succeeded Denis Oswald at a ceremony held in Lucerne in July 2 ...

, and the Evers-Swindell sisters were named Female Crew of the Year.

References

External links

Return of the silver fern
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic 45 minutes * 2005 in New Zealand sport 2005 in rowing

2005 World Rowing Championships

FISA awards

See also

References

External links